Gdi, Nod, Etc.
by Lazarus de Medci IV
Summary: Join Eric Simmons on his journey to the tourney; read it all, i promise, it gets better. Epilogue is up. Note: This was the very first C&C story)
1. Six Billion to One

Author's Note: If You've never played, or at least SEEN Command & Conquer, then go get another story!  
  
Disclaimer: Command and Conquer, Cain, GDI, NOD, and the GDI symbol, belong to Westwood. All the soilders, Lieutenant Masterson, RSVPeters, and Etcetera Simmons belong to me. And the lawyer joke belongs to Willow Mann (I'm 96% sure on that)  
  
"TEN HUT!" Shouted the GDI Recruiting Officer "You all have had a tough 2 months of boot camp. But, only 8 out of you 20 of you wetnoses will make it! ATTENTION!"   
  
Anxiety spread over the rookie wannabees, Becoming a member of the Global Defense Innitiative was one of the worlds greatest honors any man could have  
  
"THE LUCKY ONES ARE..." started the officer "A.D. Moins!"  
  
"Yes sir!" he yelled. the officer always called the soilders by first and middle initals and last names, they had learned  
  
"M.S. Bonner!"  
  
"Yes sir!"  
  
"A.P. Rodgers!"  
  
"Yes sir!"  
  
"R.S.V. Peters!"  
  
"Und, yes sir!"  
  
"D.J. Clarke!"  
  
"Yes'ir!"  
  
"M.M. Hollander!"  
  
"SIR YES SIR!"  
  
"K.A. Capp!"  
  
"Yes sir!"  
  
"Great," said a soilder in the ranks "That figures."   
  
"Don't worry 'bout it, Ectcetera, there's still 1 more slot" replied a veteran  
  
"Yeah," he replied "With 6,000,000,000 to 1 odds"  
  
"E.T.C. Simmons!"  
  
"6,000,000,000 to 1, eh?" said the veteran  
  
"Yes sir!" he called out  
  
"Better luck next time WETNOSES!" Taunted the recruiting officer "Men! MOVE OUT!"  
  
All the new soilders waited in the foyer, waiting for the traditional tatoo, in a way, the GDI branded all their men like that. Our hero waited for his turn, and listened to the names called out, and his friends all came out with a bloody reverse palm. Andy Moins, Marc Bonner, Arnold Rodgers, Reugett Peters, Dave Clarke, Mack Hollander, Kris Capp, and finaly "ERIC SIMMONS!" His full name was Eric Theodore-Clancy Simmons, but everyone called him "Etcetera Simmons" because his signin sheet said "E.T.C. Simmons" and the name stuck.  
  
Eric sat down in the chair, and waited... until someone that looked like Rodney Dangerfield in drag same out. "Hullo, I'm Ringo Timmitz, you must be Eric Simmons?" And Eric half expected him to say 'I don't get no respect!'  
  
"Yeah, that's me"  
  
"Enough with the chitchat," said Ringo "Put your fist in this tray, and keep it clenched, no matter what." "Oh," he added "It might sting a little."  
  
"A little?" Eric asked skepticly  
  
"Ok," confessed Ringo "It's gonna hurt like hell."  
  
Eric balled up his fist and put it into the graphite tray, which contoured his knuckles perfectly. Then, Ringo pulled down a duplicate of the top part, with the glowinf tubes, and the pulsing wires. Ringo fastend down 2 straps on 3 sides and walked over to a machine. Eric could feel the 5,000 nanoscopic needles resting on his hand, threatening to break through at any time. Ringo pulled up a plastic case, flipped a switch, pressed a couple keys, gingerly turned a knob, pressed some buttons on his watch, and then slammed his fist down on the neon green start button. The instant Ringo pressed that button, Eric could feel the needles pulsating, at 60 times a second, the pain made each second seem like an eternity, the super thin titanium pylons snapping through his sinew, scraping his bone, sawing away at his nerves, like shotgun shells, being thrown out faster then you could dream, like a thousand sewing machines, all working at top speed, then Eric let out an incredible blood curdling scream, and ringo presses a button on his watch, and slammed his fist down on the stop button. Eric looked at his hand, He saw fresh, red blood flowing over his knuckles, he knew he was gonna be bitchin with his knuckle for weeks. And he saw the tatoo, the GDI symbol, with the marble grey background, and the tiberium colored sillouhette of the eagle, it had printed twice around the perimiter, at the bottom, in big, gold letters, it read GDI  
  
"There we go!" said Ringo "Now get down to the recruiting office, HOP TO!"  
  
As Eric ran, he thought about his boyhood dreans, Eric always admired his dad, Sam, Who was a soilder in the 4th division, oh, and to become an honored member of the GDI, Just like pop, and to get a phat tatoo, just like pop, and who knows, maybe be a spy, Just like pop, we'll have to see.  
  
"Allright maggots! listen up!" shouted Their new platoon commander "Just because you're in the GDI does NOT mean you're a war hero. so LET'S GET A FEW THINGS STREIGHT! FIRST OFFF! My name is Lieutanant First Class Roy Masterson! Second off! You will address me as Sir, Lieutenant, or Commander! Third! Slackers, bigshots, hoods, perverts, and Smart-Asses WILL NOT BE TOLERATED! Fourth! In battle you have 2 main objectives; destroy the brotherhood of NOD, and keeping civillians alive! Fifth! Punishments for those listed above will not be taken lenient, if you do not meet your quota 5 or more times YOU WILL BE DEMOTED! If you assign yourself a mission that fails so miserably that it actually HELPS the NOD troops, YOU WILL BE DEMOTED! If you are caught with an unregistered weapon, or booze, they will be confiscated, and you will be charged 5,000 pushups to be done within 3 hours under supervision! If you are caught with any pornagraphic material, or having any form of sexual Intercourse on Barracks grounds, YOU WILL BE COURT MARSHALED! THIS IS WHY WE GIVE YOU A 1 WEEK LEAVE!!! If you Lip off to your commander, you will recieve a dishonorable discharge! And lastly, anyone caught intentionally commiting a malevolent act against peers or elders will be COURT MARSHALED OR EXECUTED BY MEANS OF TESLA COIL depending on the severity of the crime. Now, you're lucky, it's 8'o clock now, 8 'o clock is quiting time. first, you are required to set a bedtime at the front desk, between 10:30 and 11:00. If you have trouble getting up in the morning, i suggest you get to bed early. Got that?"  
  
"SIR YES SIR!" They all shouted  
  
"Now, you wanna hear my lawyer joke?"  
  
"SIR YES SIR!"  
  
"Okay, so it's like this" he starts "It's like this, a lawyer gets this new, really sweet new Jaguar, this macho cool $500,000 car, and he's drivin it to work, and he parks it on the curb. So then, this big rig comes along and rips the door off and he cries 'DAMNIT, MY NEW CAR! HOW AM I GONNA LIVE!!!!!!!' and a jogger standing nearby says 'You lawyers are so possesionistic' and he says 'What the hell are you talkin about?' and the jogger says 'Well, look down and you'll see it took off your hand too' so he looks at his bloody stump and screams 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! MY ROLEX!!! MY SPORTSCOAT!!!"  
  
Everyone burst into a fit of laughter, including Lieutennant Masterson, "Allright, maggots get into your goddam bunks, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!"  
  
Eric's bedtime was 11, because 18 hours and 4 hours of sleep were the same to him. he was between Rugget Peters and Marc Bonner. As much as he tried, eric couldn't make conversation, he was too damn tired! And...he...fell...asleep... ... ... ... 


	2. The Action Begins

Author's note: Kain - thank you for your encouraging review, but i'm afraid i deleted it with the 2nd copy of that story. could you do me a flavor and repost it on the other copy?  
  
  
"Hut! Hut! Hut!" Came a booming voice. Lieutenant Masterson said EARLY but 12:05??  
  
Before Eric could get out of bed the voice said "APRIL FOOLS!" Eric realized it was Mack Hollander getting in his two bits  
  
"Mack, go to bed!!" shouted Marc and the tired newbies all fell back asleep, except for Eric and Mack. Mack was writing a letter, on his bedside table, so eric picked up his 'nocs (Binoculars) that he got for x-mas and took a peek at mack's letter. It said "Heya, hotstuff" 'ooh,' thought eric sarcastically 'A regular Don Quixote'"They've finaly realized I'm the world's greatest soilder, even though they appointed Eric Squad leader," Oh yeah, I forgot to tell ya, they appointed Eric Squad leader, AS IF! "Lookin' foreward ta seein' ya next week, sorry I can't talk longer, gotta go.  
  
XOXOXOXO,  
Big Mack  
  
"Mack!" called Eric in his best femanine voice   
  
"Baby! he answered back  
  
Marc sniggered into his pillow, apparently still awake. "Hey Marc, Get a load of this!" Eric whispered hoarsely. He handed Marc his 'nocs, Marc focused on Mack's letter, every bit of it, then gave the 'nocs back to Eric and slammed his face down in his pillow, gagging his laughter, then wrote on a piece of paper;  
  
Huked Awn Fonix Messd me upp!  
  
Marc laughed, then he wrote;  
  
5/4 people have trouble with fractions  
  
Eric laughed harder, then wrote;  
  
How to keep an Idiot busy  
| /\  
| |  
| |  
\/ |  
How to keep an idiot busy  
  
They both laughed, then Eric suggested "let's go to bed."  
  
So they did.  
  
THE NEXT DAY, 5:22 AM  
  
"RED ALERT!" came lieutenant mastersons voice over the intercom "THIS IS NOT A DRILL, I REPEAT, RED ALERT!"  
  
Eric looked through his handbook and checked over RED ALERT, That meant NOD troops were invading! Eric grabbed his Raptor magnum and his ammo vest, he fastened the vest, ran outside and saw a sight. NOD apc's had just overrun the chain link fence, the first one flipped around, and dropped the back hatch, which landed on a mine and killed its crew of 6 (5 rocket troops and the driver) STUPID ME! I also forgot to mention that the soilders get the choice of A raptor magnum or a wolfram P2K, and the choice of 5 grenades a week (Frag, sticky, Nerve Gas, Stun, Chaff) Eric took 1 of each, and a tazer is standard issue, in 10 stylish colors! Eric got tie-die, (Of orange, lime green, and glow in the dark). The others stopped and ceased fire, and a loaded convoy came slowly thru. Eric starred in horror and yelled "DEMO TRUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" It was a Sub-Atomic, remote controled, Kamikaze. It piloted slowly around base, then ETC and co. decided to be heros, Marc jumped into the cab, and prepared for a manual overide, Rugget jumped into the back, and started calibrating the warheads, and Eric grabbed Kris' skateboard, lay down on it and rolled under the truck. They turned on their 3 way walkie-talkies   
  
"Marcaroni, reporting in" came Marc's voice   
  
"Rugetta, Reporting Een" came Rugget's voice   
  
"Etcetera, reporting in!" yelled eric into his WT  
  
"Preparing for manual overide, progress report 34%, over" said marc  
  
"Le Warhead regristration number activity confirmed!! Over"  
  
"And? Over" said eric  
  
"They are active, over"  
  
'Damn,' thought Eric  
  
"Manual overide sucessful! Over" said Marc.  
  
The truck came to a halt, and eric started hotwiring the truck,  
  
"These Demo trucks have messed up wiring" thought Eric,   
  
"let's see, red to green, yellow to blue, all to black" thought eric, suddenly a huge jolt surged through eric, at first he thought it was a shock troop, but it was the wires,  
  
"Hotwire sucessful, Awaiting instructions, Over"  
  
"Well," came lieutenant masterson's voice over the WT, To the war factory, we could use these."  
  
So he did.  
  
The truck lurched foreward, and the roar of the .55m from the NOD went 'whack, whack, whack, whack, THUNK, whack' then Rugget thumped down just above Eric   
  
"I'm Heet! I'm Heet! OVER!!" cried Rugget  
  
"Where?? Over" asked Marc  
  
"Left quadricep, noot (No, that's not a typo) serious, over!"  
  
The truck lurched to a stop out front of the war factory, and 2 mammoth tanks roared to life inside, and came crashing through the steel clad door and fired missiles at the retreating apc's and AA missiles screaming through the air, tearing its way to the Hi-Jacked hind D with the nod symbol printed on its side  
  
Lieutenant Masterson Shouted and pointed behind it, it was some sort of flying saucer, almost like... like... like NOD's description of their "next generation aircraft" and this meant the brotherhood wasn't bluffing, and they really did have an alien craft stashed somewhere, and GDI had to find it. but it might be awhile. The "Banshee", as eric had read on the side of the unknown craft, made a loop around, probably going for the mammoth tanks, whose radar didn't detect it, but it colided with the hind-D, sending the two flaming to the ground, coliding, and creating a gigantic explosion, with bolts extruding from it, because of the Banshee's plasma cannons, one of the bolts struck the spot where Marc was standing, sending him barreling into the air, and hit the ground.  
  
"MARC!" shouted Eric, sprinting in his direction. He stopped at Marc, and checked him for injuries, his leg was slightly charred, but not too badly. In all the frenzy, Eric didn't see the banshee pilot, screaming, and in flames, running around, he sacked eric, putting him a blazing headlock, Eric immediately reached for his raptor, feeling the incredible heat pulsing against his head, it made him remember his father's words "Kill, or be killed, it all depends on how fast you act" He fired3 shots into his side "Crack! Crack! Crack!" then 2 into his neck "Snak! Krak!" then he fell to the ground and knew no more... ... ... ... 


	3. One if by APC, Two if by Orca

  
  
When Eric awoke, he found himself in a hospital ward, watching an episode of "Sinefeld" on Nick-@-Nite, The one where George tells Jerry his girlfriend's thumb got cut off in a tractor accident, and it's a toe now. Rugget was asleep, and Marc was getting his foot repositioned.  
  
"Marc," said Eric in a raspy voice "Was shakin'?"  
  
Marc looked over and smiled. Just then, Eric noticed a bandage serading across Marc's head. Then Kris Kapp and his older brother Barney walked in, making Rugget stir.  
  
"Hey" said Kris "Thought you guys might wanna hear some of barney's war stories. They always cheer me up"  
  
"Und Yah," said Rugget "Tell us Var Shtories"  
  
Master Seargent Barney Kapp was Lieutenant Masterson's right arm, so naturally, Masterson was thrilled to hear Kris had made it in to the 4th division, GDI.  
  
Barney did a backflip and landed on the Spectrovision, turinig it off and growled "How old are ye now?"  
  
The words of Fox Mulder echoed through Eric's head "Aww, man, I can't bileve that just happened, Geezus christ, mulder, how old are you now, sixteen?"  
  
Barney continued to talk like a pirate "Back when I joined up, Roy... Er, Lieutenant Masterson, Gave us the exact same same speech he gave you guys, argh, except for he had restrictions on gambling. But one fateful night, Masterson called 'ol barney Kapp up to the hut to bring up a cooler full of coke, argh, because booze was restricted, argh, but he forgot that he ordered it up, argh, and Guess who sat in on Lieutenant Masterson's little POKER GAME?"  
  
"Dan Akroid?" said Eric  
  
"Leslie Nielson?" said Marc  
  
"Doon Noots?" said Rugget  
  
"Wierd Al Yankovic?" said Kris  
  
"ME!!" Said Barney in dismay "Ar, ar, ar, ar," he laughed "And ever scince they've allowed gambling"  
  
"So where are the others?" asked Marc  
  
"Oh," said Kris "That reminds me, We were all sent on a siege"  
  
"When?" Asked Eric suddenly  
  
"Few hours ago," replied Kris "We were sent by APC. Masterson made me stay and gaurd the base"  
  
Eric put his hands down on the bed, and lurched upward, only to discover his hands were bandaged... and chared. He got up anyways, stripped off his gown and walked into the next room. In the other room, Eric looked at the bundles of clothing sprawled out on the shelf, all labeled "Simmons, Bonner, Peters" They had been patched up. Eric grabbed them and took them into the ward, and threw them to their proper owners. "Put 'em on" said eric "See how they fit".   
  
Marc looked at Eric like some sort of madman, and then quoted "Eh?"  
  
"We," Eric explained "Are going to battle. And you, Barney Kapp, Are going to help us"  
  
"Me?" Growled Barney in his usual gruff voice "What do you propose I do, Mr. Junior commander?"  
  
"Very funny" said Eric "But at any rate, Your job is to sweet talk Masterson."  
  
"Ummm..." said barney "I'm a HETEROsexual, just so you know."  
  
Eric just looked at barney like some kind of wierdo  
  
"Army joke" Said Barney  
  
Eric explained his plan to his cohorts in great depth his plan of escape, no leaving out a thing  
  
"So," barney said "Anything ELSE?"  
  
Eric thought a minute  
  
"Yes"  
  
Everyone looked at Eric  
  
"DON'T WAKE DADDY!!"  
  
Everyone laughed, then moved in for the kill  
  
Barney had to, as mentioned "sweet talk Lieutenant Masterson, and who better to do it than Barney Kapp?  
  
"Roy," said Barney, walking up to Lieutenant Masterson "How goes the trials?"  
  
"Mmmm," said Lieutenant "Just sent in my application, hope they get back to me in time"  
  
"Well," said Barney "I hope you make it. You'd make a damn fine captain."  
  
"Thanks, Barn" said Lieutenant masterson "Maybe, in the near future, they'll make you a Lieutenant, 2nd class."  
  
"May-be" said Barney "May-be"  
  
The static wave came over Barney's radio  
  
"*chh* Mmm, roger alpha-niner, copy that, yes'm, over, *chh*"  
  
"What?"  
  
"These boys in the medical ward need to be shipped off, for better medical attention, over"  
  
"You need supervision" chimed in Lieutenant Masterson  
  
"Yes'm, request permission to use E2 Kris Kapp and E9 Barney Kapp, over"  
  
"Roger that" said Masterson. he looked at Barney a minute  
  
"You got a job to do, Barn. Hop to it."  
  
Barney saluted masterson, then jogged over to the helipad, and with Kris' assistance, loaded the boys in an orca transport, via stretcher. 


	4. Crouching Sniper; Hidden Cyborg

  
  
After they were all loaded in, Kris slammed the door, and Marc hopped out of his stretcher and into the copilot's seat. Rugget was groggy, so he remained on his stretcher... Eric and Kris went in search of food  
  
"See if ye can't find some golden grams... I skipped breakfast" Called Barney  
  
Eric Rummaged through the fridge... And found a very old box of them  
  
He walked over, carrying the box and said "Sure. But the experation date was in 1964... Then it happened... Eric stepped on someone... "Sorry Kris" He said... But then he looked down... and it wasn't Kris at all. It was a NOD sniper. Barney Hopped up from his seat... and Kris replaced it. He swiped up the sniper rifle and aimed it at the gunman.  
  
"So," He said "Thought you'd pull a fast one on Barney Kapp, eh?"  
  
"What's it to ya?" he shot back  
  
Barney jabbed the barrel of the gun into his head "Don't ye get glib with me!"  
  
He jabbed it again "Ye bastards got anything elts up yer sleves?" He growled  
  
"What'll ya give me if i tell ya?" He asked  
  
"A doggie treat" snapped Barney  
  
The Nod troop grinned "All right. I'll give you a clue. It's big, its black, it hefts a plasma cannon, it is loyal as hell. Our Cyborg Commando. We need something, scince you SOB's destroyed our Banshee."  
  
"We didn't have to" Chimed Eric "It destroyed itself."  
  
Then a sam battery discharged rounds into the cockpit, Marc and Kris diving out of the blast just in time. As It careemed across the ground Barney made a human chain. He dove out, pulling everyone after him.  
  
"Fall back, squad 1, FALL BACK!" Shouted Staff Seargent S. Christopher Homer "Destroy the sam sites so we can get in reinforcements, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!!"  
  
"SEARGENT HOMER!" Yelled Barney "Reinforcemtnts have arrived! This is the last of them!"  
  
"Then we're screwed!" He replied "They got rocketeers all over... and cyborgs too... We managed to take out the devil's tounge before it got out of hand.  
  
A great explosion roared over the plains, as the hand of nod went up in flames... if one of them backed off, it would be the start of the tiberian twilight  
  
The roar of the M16's Made Eric shudder, He wyrmed his way over to a nod corpse, and pryed a Chem Spray cannon out of his hand, He slammed the butt of the cannon into the ground, and a great green cloud spouted from its nozzle, killing all the nod troops, except for the cyborgs and tick tanks.  
  
Kris got up to make an assult, but a cyborg whacked him over the head with it's mighty robotic arm. The cyborg took aim with it's chaingun and prepared to fire, but Barney sacked it, and it shot a spray of chaingun bullets to the side of Kris. Barney socked it in the face, then crammed a chaff into it's mouth, he rolled over, there was a small explosion, then the cyborg froze. Barney walked 20 feet away then turned around and started running, he stopped at the cyborg and punted it's head "High and Mighty"   
  
"That's for tryin' ta kill my kid brother, you cybotic freak!" Barney shouted after it  
  
Then a site came that was a horror to behold... the cyborg commando. Mack Hollander leapt out of a foxhole and onto it's head, it stumbled around, then socked mack in the gut. He slumped off, and escaped the battle with nothing more than a large bruise. It fired it's plasma cannon at someone, then came GDI's savior.  
  
Six Disruptors rolled through the bush, and Senchronoly attacked the Coybtic horror, ending its meaningless life. They went on to destroy the entire NOD encampment. Eric ran over to the soilder the CC managed to get... It was Dave Clarke.  
  
"...Eric, Eric, Is that you?" He groaned "Tell me it's gonna be okay... ... ... ... It's not is it?"  
  
Eric looked him over... He was missing his left arm and 1/3 of his torso  
  
"Please," Dave Begged "Tell camilla I love her"  
  
Eric cradled his head and said "You're gonna be okay"  
  
"MEDIC!!!!!!!!!!!!" he screamed "MEEEEEEEDIIIIIIICCC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
There was silence... And then Dave Clarke rolled over and died... A soilders death... No, A war hero's death.  
  
****************************************************************************  
  
The next day there was a funeral for Dave Clarke, and a 21 gun salute. Eric saw a 6-Month-Pregnant woman there, It was Dave Clarke's wife, Camilla. He told her that he loved her, their unborn son, and he had died a war hero's death. After that, everyone was issued a promotion. So ETC and crew were Corprals, Everyone else was Private, First class. Barney Kapp got a purple heart and Was promoted to Lieutenant, 2nd class. And Base Commander Roy Masterson was issued the rank of O3, Captian.  
  
Later that night Eric watched Barney and Captain Masterson have a chat about Barney joining the Officer ranks, Then he heard a man groan, and a woman giggle. Eric looked over with his noc's, and saw the unspeakable... Mack Hollander and some other gal... Well, you know... Then he saw something worse... Captian Masterson coming twoards the bunkroom door... 


	5. The Walk Of Shame

  
  
The door eased open, Captain Masterson walked in. He strolled past Dave Clarke's Now Vacant bed, then past Marc, past Eric, past Rugget, past Andy Moins, Past Kris Kapp, And stopped at Mack Hollander.  
  
"Kris, I told you to leave me alone!" Shouted Mack  
  
"Oh, Sorry to disturb you" Said Captain Masterson in a menacing tone  
  
Mack turned his head around in horror and stared at Captain Masterson  
  
"Hollander," He said sitting down on the bed "I could have SWORN I established this as one of the ground rules not but a week ago. Did I not men?"  
  
"Yes sir," Lulled everyone in unison  
  
"Ah, yes, so I did" He said Turning back to Mack "What should we do about this? Give you a detention? Noooo, You're not in the girl scouts anymore, Hollander. You Played with fire. Now, it seems you have a 3rd degree burn. heh heh heh..." there was silence for a minute "I'll see you on central square at 0900 Zulu, you little Pervert. And the rest of you... I want to see everyone there! We're gonna have us a rip roarin' good time!!"  
  
Then he left.  
  
Eric went back to sleep trying to think of something else. That night he had a dream about his dad, About how he was in the army, how he was a spy, how he met mom, how he taught him everything he knows.  
  
*********************************************************************************  
  
The next day at 0900 Zulu, everyone was gathered around the square. In the middle was Mack Hollander, In full uniform, Captain Masterson, who was standing right in front of him, and to his side was Barney Kapp, with a large aluminum breifcase.  
  
"ATTEN-TION!" Called Captain Masterson "We are gathered here today to DIShonor one of our UNfinest troops. Private, First class Mack Hollander, was caught having sexual intercourse on base grounds, contradicting what the GDI strives for - perfection. Lieutenant Kapp, the S.A.K. If you please"  
  
Barney opend the case, pulled out an S.A.K. (Swiss Army Knife) and handed it to Captain Masterson. Masterson flipped out a 12 in. switchblade and cut the insignia off of Mack's shoulder.  
  
"Lieutenant Kapp, The gauntlett" Said Masterson.  
  
Barney pulled a gauntlett out of the case, and handed it to Masterson. He put it on his hand, then grabbed Mack's decorations and ripped them off his jacket.  
  
"Lieutenant Kapp, The Hunting Knife" Said Masterson  
  
Barney pulled a large jagged hunting knife, and handed it to Masterson. He Sliced Mack's uniform to shreds, not harming him at all. Then he pulled off his hat, and with a sharp reverse punch, put a large hole in it. Than, he slapped it on his head with it so hard it dangled around his neck. Then he gathered some Phlegm in his throat, then hawked in his face.  
  
"Lieutenant Kapp, the Cantein" Said Masterson "Let's wash you off, Hollander"  
  
Then he poured Pureed jello all over his head, neck, shoulders and torso.  
  
"Lieutenant Kapp, The Chord" Said Masterson  
  
Barney handed him a long Bunjee Chord. Captain Masterson looped it around his waist and hooked it tight. Then Barney went to the back of a recon rover and attached it to the tow bumper. Masterson jumped in the gunner's turret, motioned for Eric to sit in the second seat, and Barney took the dirver's seat. Then he took off, with mack running desprately behind the recon rover.  
  
"What're they doing?" asked Eric  
  
"Something the Omega Squadron commander invented to punish certain soilders."  
  
"And they still use it here in the Beta encampment?"  
  
"Yup"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Beats me"  
  
"That's beside the point. What IS it?"  
  
"Colonel Mean Gene Wesly's Walk of Shame"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Ya heard me. Colonel Mean Gene Wesly's Walk of Shame"  
  
"Who, may I ask, is Colonel Mean Gene Wesly?"  
  
"Commander of the Omega squadron. I hear he's gonna be a new character on The next Ready 2 Rumble game"  
  
"No kidding?"  
  
"Yeah. They use it mostly to punish sexual offenders. If you Harass your peers, they do it sometimes... But sometimes they just fry ya"  
  
Then they arrived in Waco, Texas the beta squadron was built to protect it. The alpha squadron was to protect Dallas, and the Omega squadron was to protect Huston. Then Masterson pulled out a baratone and started playing the wedding march. Everyone in Waco seemed to be watching. Allthough he was just along for the ride, Eric couldn't help but feel really really embarrased. He looked at all the citizens, and they seemed to be quite amused. All but one. A beautiful red-head, about eric's age, 23 or 24, Who seemed simply horrified. Eric pulled on Masterson's jacket "Sir, request permission to get out... I'll catch a bus back to the base."  
  
"What's the matter, Simmons? I was just gettin' warmed up!"  
  
"I see someone I know... a friend of mine" Eric lied  
  
"...Allright, But be back bu 1100 Zulu" Said Captain Masterson  
  
Then eric hopped out of the buggy as it sped on down the street. Standing there, he could feel his cheeks turning red. He gathered up courage he had leftover from the last battle... then he walked over and introduced himself to the gal. 


	6. I'll be your bodygaurd

  
  
Eric walked up to the woman, who was in a silk-woven bathrobe, and leaning on her door. She slapped Eric roundly in the face and shouted something in portaguese.  
  
"ENGLISH! ENGLISH!!" Eric shouted  
  
The woman calmed down, took a deep breath then started yelling at him in english  
  
"SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!" Eric cried. There was silence for a minute, then Eric took a deep breath.  
  
"I'm sorry," he said "What are you so bloomin mad about?"  
  
"That was terrible! How could you do that to a fellow soilder! Does the base commander know you're doing this?"  
  
"Aahhh... You know that guy on the back playing Baratone?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"That's Captain Roy Masterson... The commander of the Beta squadron"  
  
She gasped "NO!!!!!!"  
  
"yeah."  
  
"WHY!?"  
  
"Colonel Mean Gene Wesly's walk of shame. Mainly used to punish attempted murdurers and sexual offenders. He was the second one."  
  
The woman looked at him angrily, then she burst into tears. She dropped to the floor, Eric knelt down next to her. "What's wrong?"  
  
"I left Waco when I was 5, And i lived in Lisbon, Portagul, this is my first night back, Back to conflict on american soil... I'm just so scared... Will they kill me? Will they capture me, and do unspeakable things to me?"  
  
"They Can't... We won't let them! I'll kill thse bastards if it's the last goddam thing i do!!!!!!"  
  
"Will you protect me?" She asked, wiping the tears from her eyes "Will you be my bodygaurd?"  
  
"I'll try" Said Eric "I'll try"  
  
"By the way," She said "My name's Laura Wilson. What's your's?"  
  
"Corpral E.T.C Simmons, The ETC stands for Eric Theodore Clancy"  
  
"Simmons. Any relation to Neil Simmons?"  
  
"Yeah. My great grandpa. He went under the alias Dimitri Grigonavic` when he defected to the Soviet Union in 1946. He taught me A little soviet before he died"  
  
"Get out of town!"  
  
"?VyYendhem Boh Geshda? Pteurbaah!"  
  
"What does it mean?"  
  
"Mmmm... I think it means "Where were you? Youre late!"  
  
"Aaah, Okay. Would you like a beer or something?"  
  
"Oh, yeah! I haven't had one in forever and a half!"  
  
**** 1.5 hours later ****  
  
"Hey, what time is it?"  
  
"11:45"  
  
"Oh, Damn. Gotta get back to base in fifteen minutes or Masterson's gonna chew my aaaaaaassssssssssss!!"  
  
"Need a lift?"  
  
"No, i think i got it"  
  
Eric went outside and looked around. He saw a skateboard with "Limp Bizkit" Sanded into the bottom... He helped himself to it. He hopped on the skateboard and grabbed on to the back of a rover with the plates "MeenGèn" Meaning it was from the Omega squadron. He got back to base at 1059 Zulu... Just barely making the Deadline.  
  
"WAAAAAZZZZZZAAAAAAP!!!" Squealed Marc as he walked into the barracks  
  
"NAAAATMAAAAAAACH!!!" Eric squealed in response "Wait up, I need to go talk to Masterson"  
  
Eric went over to Captain masterson and told him about how he became a civillian's personal bodygaurd...  
  
FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS IN CHAPTER SEVEN! 


	7. Un bit piccolo dell'Italia

  
  
Eric Explained everything to masterson. But it's not worth explaining again. Eric retreated to his bunk and opened the diary of Dimitri Grigonavic` (Neil Simmons)  
  
February 22, 1953  
  
  
Dear Journal,  
  
It's me, Neil. I'm really starting to believe that this job isn't all it's cracked up to me. Oh sure, i get gourmet meals with primeir Romanov, I can boss around anyone in the Soviet Union, Anyone in Lybia, In cuba, Or In Iraq, but on the other hand, everyone in my homeland fears me and hates me. This wouldn't bother me so much... If only... If only. If only my Almost-wife didn't work for the american navy S.E.A.L's. I hate it. I need to find out the results of the test that day... I left Moscow, Idaho, To go to Moscow, U.S.S.R, before I knew. But all the same, it's in the past. I need to talk to her. But I need Romanov's help. But how to do it without revealing my true identity? Well, He won't question me if i do it large scale. Besides, as of today, Alex owe's me a favor. I saved one of hes key bases in Ob, Siberia. By myself. I defeated a few british tanks and a German Tank Destroyer, by myself, with a custom MIG. Well, that's all for today. I have to go now.  
  
Scrawled at the bottom, in Neil's beautifly Caligraphy, was a note;  
  
Etcetera,  
  
I want you to have this. Your grandfather, nor your father, would understand much of it. I bieleve you would. Look on page 525, There's something for you there.  
  
Eric flipped to page 525. There was a sidenote scrawled in the margin;  
  
Etcetera, Etc, Eric, E!, Or whatever it is you go by now,  
  
I want you to be lying down, in a dark place. Ready? good. Your great-grandmother is Tanya. THE tanya. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. I got back to her... She tested positive. Well, hell, this was before birth control, can ya blame me? I never even told Journal until now. But i'm glad i got that off my cold, dead... WALLET! Lol, anyhow. I'll see ya round... or not.  
  
Neil  
  
So eric just sang to himself in a brush with insanity.  
  
Sometimes you get suckered in  
By drugs, and alcahol, and sex with wo-men  
But it is when you do these things too much  
That you become an addict, and must get back in touch  
  
Come on! It's Easy! You can change your life to-day!  
  
You don't have to spend your life  
Addicted to smack  
Homeless on the street  
Givin' Hand Jobs for crack  
Just follow this plan and pretty soon you will say  
It's Easy M'kay!  
  
"Shut up!" Said Marc "If you're gonna sing a South Park song, then sing Uncle Fucka!"  
  
But lickily, he just shut up.  
  
*********************************************************************************************  
  
The next day, Eric got the day off, because reinforcements were coming from the Omega base while Colonel Wesly Did an inspection. Eric and Marc went to the Wal-Mart in Waco and bought Ready 2 Rumble; Round 5, they went in on it together, and 2 copies of the south park sound track, and Eric got a Blood Red I-Book. They were to meet Rugget, Kris, and Barney at an Italian Restaraunt that Rugget knew about. When they finally got there, Rugget told them that his uncle was the owner, and got them a table for 5. The restaraunt was called Un bit piccolo dell'Italia. Or as they say in america, A little bit 'o italy, Rugget and Eric had the fetucini Alfredo, Marc and Kris had the Chicken Parmesan, and Barney had Rigatoni alfredo, with some italian sausage and parmesean cheese, plus a couple of plates of Lasagna. A little before their meal arrived, an angry customer rose from his seat  
  
"I DID NOT ORDER ALL THIS CRAP!" Screamed an angry patron  
  
"Prego, il signore, non fa nulla drastico!" Begged the waiter  
  
Rugget ran over to the waiter "Prego, sono nipote del proprietario, me ed i miei amici sono membri della difesa globale Innitiative, li lasciano maneggiare questo!" Explained Rugget, Pointing to us. Then he came back and said "Code Blue". Code Blue meant that there was a possibly hostile civillian. Approach with care. Eric Walked up behind the man.  
  
"You're gonna pay for this!" He shouted. He pulled out a walther and fired three shots in the ceiling, and everyone rushed under the tables. Rugget pulled out a Rugger Magnum .44 and pointed it at the man's head. "I get it... He gets it" Said the man, at the wrong time. Eric Disarmed the man by rushing under him in a deep, wide horse stance. He grabbed his arm, and looped around and stratled it. Then he pulled the release and the Magazine dropped to the floor. He yanked his arm up, just barely missing Eric's crotch, he pulled it harder, and harder, until he eventually heard it break, then, he did a wrestling finale` he had made up; the bobsled. He pulled his arms behind his back, elbows extended, then he shoved his knee in the man's back, his arms deadbolted through the mans arms, and simply fell foreward onto a table, breaking the table, and the man's ribcage. When he returned, he went to go tell Masterson what had hat happened at Un bit piccolo dell'Italia, but at the time, he was finishing an evaluation with Colonel Wesly.  
  
"Nice setup, Masterson" Commented colonel Wesly "now for the criticisms. Too low ranks, too few troops, not enough pavement, can never be too careful of devil's tounges and other subteranian units. I also feel you dont have enough maintnence tending your E.M. Pulse Cannon. But on the other hand, I heard about the walk of shame from my Brother-in-law, Sirius Moore, He's an english Poet."  
  
Then Eric told masterson about the incident, in great detail, using many hand motions, leaving Colonel Wesly Rolling on the floor in laughter. Masterson told him to go back to his bunk and do something. Back in the bunkroom, marc had started up their Mega-Nintendo (A 512 bit gaming system) Plugged eric's "Bloody-Mess red controler in 1st slot, meanwhile, eric was on his laptop, and just found a site with R2R5 on it.  
  
"Dude!" said eric, picking up his controler. He typed in BALDINGEAGLE in the name slot.  
  
"What'zat do?" Asked Marc  
  
"Unlocks Mean Gene, I hear he's a sweet-ass character"  
  
"MMMmmmm..." Came a voice from behind them "I'm glad you boys think so highly of me"  
  
It was colonel Wesly.  
  
"Err, howdy Colonel Wesly" said Eric  
  
"Call me gene" Said Colonel Wesly "My father always said I had a sweeeet name"  
  
"What brings you to the bunks of squad 6?"  
  
"I'm considering having you removed, Corpral Simmons"  
  
REMOVED?!?!?!?!?! 


	8. The Devil's Tounge Went down to Waco

  
  
They both stared flatly at Colonel Wesly, while the AIbot beat the crap out of eric on R2R5.  
  
"Would you greive terribly if I transfered you to the Omega base?" Said Colonel Wesly  
  
"AAaaaahhhh, gimme some time on that" said Eric  
  
"Time we don't have. I give you 15 minutes"  
  
"Can I bring along 2 others?"  
  
"1"  
  
"Only 1?"  
  
"Only 1."  
  
Eric rushed off to get Rugget. he found him quickly, marc trailing behind. He was talking on a pay-phone.  
  
"Oui-Oui," he said into the reciever "I sink so too. I ville see you satuerday, zen? Oui-Oui, Arreviderci." then he hung up  
  
"What's up Tizzoas?" asked Rugget  
  
"Colonel Wesly wants to transfer me" said Eric hurriedy "He will let me bring 1 person. But who...?"  
  
"Take Marc," said Rugget Jovially "I ave found somesing ere zat I cannot find elsewhere"  
  
Eric took a wild stab, but kept it to himself. Then, Colonel wesly showed up  
  
"Time's up" he said "What's it gonna be?"  
  
"I'm going." said Eric "And I'm Taking Marc Bonner with me"  
  
"What's going on here?" said Captain Masterson "Are these two bothering you?"  
  
"Quite the contrary, Masterson" said Colonel Wesly "I want to trade a couple of GI's Masterson, Is that allright?"  
  
"Sir, yes sir!"  
  
"Very well." said Colonel Wesly " I give you 1 week. See you then" and then he left  
  
"Captain Masterson," said Eric "Can I take my 1 week leave now?  
  
"Sure," said Masterson "I don't see why not"  
  
**********************************************************************************************  
  
The next day, After Eric finished packing, he picked up his car from the armory then drove aroundtown for a bit. At 11:45 he got to his parents house, just in time for lunch. He also whooped His kid brother, Curly's ass on R2R5, then he left at 3:00. at 3:30 he arrived in Waco and hopped out of his car, went over to the door and knocked.  
  
"Who is it?" replied the resident  
  
"Weather Salesman. Would you be intrested in buying a Hurricane or two, or three, or four..."  
  
"Oh, come in Eric"  
  
"Hey," said Eric carrying his stuff through the door, throwing his stuff down on the sofa  
  
Laura was still wearing her bathrobe  
  
"Damn, woman! Do you ever get dressed?" Said Eric, screwing up his face  
  
"Har har," she said, sarcastically "Very funny"  
  
"Hey listen" said Eric "Can I use your phone?"  
  
He dialed the base number.  
  
"Hello," said the operator "this is the Beta squadron, Commanded by Captain Roy Masterson, how may I route you to the appropriate line?"  
  
"Yeah, can I talk to Corpral Rugget Peters, in bunkhouse 6?"  
  
"Hold please."  
  
*****************5 minutes later****************  
  
"Alo?"  
  
"Yeah, Rugget?"  
  
"Speaking"  
  
"Rugget," started Eric "I was talking to Colonel Wesly, and it got me thinking"  
  
"Oh? About vat?" Rugget asked  
  
"Your nationality." said Eric "We all put $10 in a pool to see who got the closest guess"  
  
"Und?"  
  
"Your full Name's Rugget Sargeivo Vladmir Peters, right?"  
  
"Ya?"  
  
"Well," started Eric "I think you're french, Marc thinks you're Italian, Kris thinks you're german, Barney thinks you're Soviet, Captain Masterson thinks you're Serbo-Croatian, Colonel Wesly thinks you're Czech, Arnold Rodgers thinks you're Spanish, Andy Moins thinks you're Portaguese, And my dad thinks you're British. Who's right?"  
  
"Nobody!" he said, than burst into a fit of laughter  
  
"Nobody?"  
  
"Is dere an echo? Ches, nobody!" Said Rugget "Try und svallow zis. I vas born in Cairo, Egypt!"  
  
"So Who wins the pot?"  
  
"Mmmmmm.... Colonel Vesly, because my parents vere both from Carlsbad, Czechoslovakia"  
  
"Wierd..." Said Eric "Well, catch ya on the flip side, leter" Then he hung up.  
  
"O-la Senior Citizen"  
  
"Eric," She said "What're you doing here?"  
  
"Hey, My brother Curly told me this great Joke, wanna hear it?" Eric said Excitedly  
  
"Sure I guess"  
  
"Ok, Great!" Eric said "Ok, so this guy and this girl get on an elevator, M'kay? so then, Ther Girl's like '*Sigh* T-G-I-F' then the guy's like 'S-H-I-T' Then she looks over at him and goes 'T-G-I-F' so the guy's like 'S-H-I-T' And then she's like 'no, no, T-G-I-F' so the guy's like 'S-H-I-T' so then she wheels over and says 'what that means is "Thank God It's Friday"' so then the guy says 'uh-huh, and what THAT means is "Sorry Honey, It's Thursday"'"  
  
Laura laughed uncontrollably, then streightened up and said "That still doesn't answer my question"  
  
"I'm gonna be here for 2 weeks, if thats OK," Said Eric "I'd stay over at my Dad's, but My grandparents, Albert and Lola are staying over."  
  
"Sure, But..." Started Laura, but then the doorbell rang  
  
"Millatary, or civillian!?" Shouted Eric  
  
"Millitary!" came the answer  
  
The door flung open, and eric drew his Raptor and flung it out into the mans nose. At the same time, A Wolfram P2K stuck into his face. They noticed the tattoos on eachother's hand, then holstered their firearms, then shook hands.  
  
"Corpral Eric Theodore-Clancy Simmons, Beta Squadron, Omega Squadron as of next week"  
  
"Staff Seargent Sean Edwin Zucker, Omega squadron, Beta squadron as on next week"  
  
"What seems to be the trouble, Mister Zucker?" Asked Laura  
  
"Our siesmographs report some kind of subteranian unit, either a devil's tounge or a sub-t APC" Started seargent Zucker "Reinforcements are too far away. The nearest available are 125 miles to the northwest,"  
  
"What about the beta squadron?" Asked Eric  
  
"They're Busy"  
  
"With what?" asked Eric "a skirmish battle?"  
  
"No," said Sean "A full scale attack"  
  
"So who's gonna defend waco?"  
  
"Reinforcements will be here in a half hour." Started Sean "That thing, which i've been told just now, is a devil's tounge, will be here in 5 minutes..."  
  
Then there came a runbling  
  
"Wow," said Eric "Shortest 5 minutes in the history of time!"  
  
"Funny" Said Sean "But this is no laughing matter"  
  
Then, a giant fissure formed in the street and up from the middle, rose a devil's tounge, smashing a car to the side. The driver jumped out before the car hit a bearby building, and smacked into a supply truck, badly injuring his leg. The flamethrowers on the devils tounge melted the car in a matter of seconds. Alone, yet armed to the teeth, Eric and Sean Charge into battle. 


	9. Heidi Ho, Silks

  
  
They both withdrew the weapon that they had holstered earlier, and charged into combat.  
  
Eric rolled his tounge "Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, Hi-yai-yai-yai!"  
  
The tounge stoped, spun a quater circle, til it faced them. they both pumped a clip into its front side, leaving not much more than a couple of dents. then the tounge fired an rpg at the ground and they flew apart. Sean landed on a fire escape ladder, and followed it up to a second story window. Eric was thrown on the boardwalk, outside a mechanic's shop, where he scrambled inside.  
  
"What're ya gonna do about that thing?" asked the head mechanic  
  
"You got a spare axle lying around?" Eric replied  
  
"Yeah, but the customers not gonna be happy if you wreck it"  
  
"Tell him it saved the city of Waco from the brotherhood, and he won't"  
  
Reluctantly he gave Eric the axle. Eric hoisted it onto his shoulder, and threw it like a javelin, into the gears of one of the treads of the devils tounge.  
  
"WAAAAAZAAAAAAP!!!!!" Eric yelled  
  
The devil's tounge lurched sideways, then came to a grinding halt, halfway there. Eric ran back into the shop and grabbed a battery operated table saw. He ran back outside, hopped on top of the devil's tounge, and jammed the saw into the top, and reved up the internal motor. The saw roared to life. He cut the better portion of a circle in the top of the devils tounge, and pulled it back with all his might, like a giant tin can. He pulled out his raptor, and shot the copilot so it couldn't turn, then the weapons operater so it couldn't harm anyone else. he aimed at the pilot and *click* he was out of ammo. Coincidentally, he was also screwed. The pilot scrambled for the M16 mk2 in the corner, but Sean threw up a grenade belt to eric. Eric pulled out a few pins, and dropped the rest in, then he did a buttdrop on the flap, closing it up, he leapt off the side and ran, then he turned around to get his raptor from off the ground; he grabbed it, then an explosion took place, sending Eric into Laura's side wall. His head whipped back, and hit on her wall, then he fell unconcious.  
  
***************************************************************************************************  
  
Eric awoke the next morning, with a concussion, on laura's sofa, and he could see laura making breakfast... in her bathrobe.  
  
"Now I'm serious, Laura! Put some clothes on for god sakes!"  
  
"Are you complaining?" she asked, looking back at him  
  
Eric looked her over, from head to toe, he could see the start of the shadow in the bust line, and her bare leg portruding from the gap in the cloth... Which Eric found very enticing  
  
"On second thought," he said "Forget I said anything"  
  
"You Hambone" laughed Laura "All the guys in the GDI and i get stuck with you as a bodygaurd?"  
  
"Better than nothing, wouldn't you agree?" Eric shot back  
  
"Barely" she said  
  
Eric screwed up his face and mocked her  
  
"Breakfast is ready" Laura said "Come and get it"  
  
*****************************************************************************************************  
  
After Breakfast Eric went out on the town to do things. He had noiced that marked on her calender, was laura's 23rd birthday, and perhaps she had forgoten it (Completely defeating the purpose of writing it down) And decided to get her a present while in town. He also bought himself a cell phone, called marc, and told him his new number. Marc also told him one of his annecdotes.  
  
"I just heard the wierdest thing!" said Marc "Get this! Seargent Homer goes by S. Christopher, right?"  
  
"Right"  
  
"Guess what the S stands for"  
  
"I heard it stood for Stephen"  
  
"Nope"  
  
"What then?"  
  
"Shannon!!"  
  
"Crap, dude! Seargent Homer's name is Shannon!?" said Eric "Does Barney know?"  
  
"Barney told me!" said Marc "Isn't that a hoot?!?!"  
  
He finally decided what would be perfect. He had to go to a copy shop, a convienience store, and the Omege and Beta squadron bases, but he got the job done, and he was proud of it.  
  
*****************************************************************************************************  
  
The next day, after Eric woke up, he found laura on the doorstep, in her bathrobe  
  
"Heidi ho, silks!" chanted Eric  
  
"Hey, Eric" She replied glumly  
  
"What's up?" Eric asked  
  
"Well, it's my birthday, and I'm the only one to celebrate it, all my friends and family are dead, or in Lisbon. And I can't blame you for not knowing, on such short notice, i mean"  
  
"Au` Contraire" Eric said, but Laura just looked at him, puzzled "I have something for you"  
  
"How did you know??" Laura beamed, accepting his gift  
  
"I'm very observant, especially after a full Breakfast, and next to a calander" Eric said, a smug grin spreading over his face. Laura opened the present, there waas one of those cut halmark cards on the front, and then, inside was a certificate, with four lines, One one was written Eric Theodore-Clancy Simmons, on the next was Gene Howard Wesly, on another was Roy Donnavan Masterson III, and the fourth one was blank. after looking it over, she discovered it was a certificate that meant officially that Eric was Laura's bodygaurd.  
  
*****************************************************************************************************  
  
Two days later he went to a broadcast, of the forming of the Waco Malitia, working under the GDI, headed by Retired Major Sam Edward Simmons, Eric's dad. And in addition to that, Eric himself began to notice something diffrent in the atmosphere at the end of the 1st week, but I shan't say what. 4 more days went by where eric sat back and enjoyed his remaining vacation; 3 days left. 


	10. We are the Titans

  
  
On the last day of vacation, Eric Swiped a Buggy abd drove off into the desert sun, Singing along to the south park song "What Would Brian Boitonno Do?"  
  
*****************************************************************************************************  
  
After driving all night, Eric passed through the Huston City limits, and into the Omega squadron base, to find it a complete mess. A hunter seeker had blown the front gate off, and a cluster missile had wreaked Havoc throughout the base, but the battle had been chased back to the Brotherhood's nearest encampment. Marc had arrived and was talking to a carryall pilot  
  
"Marc! Dude!"  
  
"Eric," started Marc, "let's commandeer that empty titan, and this dude'll take us to the action!"  
  
Eric and marc climbed the ladder on the side of the titan's leg, and climbed into a door on the back of it's Torso, they climbed an internal ladder, and into the cockpit. Eric sat down in the first seat, Marc took the second.  
  
"Allright," said Eric "You're in charge of the locomotion system, and i'm in charge of the upper body, now signal the pilot!"  
  
Marc signaled the pilot that they were ready for takeoff, and the caryall lifted into the air, and hovered just above them. The latches dropped down, and magnetically attached to the titan, then it took off  
  
****10 MINUTES LATER****  
  
The carryall landed, and unhooked from the titan, and they marched around, the radar bleeped and eric pivoted around, knocking off the spire of a temple of nod, out of the hole a hunter-seeker droid floated up and out, it latched onto a rocket mounted on the left arm, and eric fired, the missle screamed away, close to hitting the carryall, and then the hunter seeker droid stopped its path, by self destructing, and the missle exploded overtop of a construction yard, blowing it to pieces, Eric slapped Marc a High-Five, but then saw A cyborg commando enter the door at the foot of the titan, Eric grabbed a M16-Mk2 in the corner of the cabin and some extra ammo and headed down, Marc sealing the door behind him.  
  
Eric snuck onto the top of the staircase and peered around, nothing. Then, he saw the commando at the bottom of the stairs, pivoting as it climbed. Eric aimed carefully then fired of about 12 rounds, at least 10 of them making contact, then the commando saw him, and discharged a bolt of raw plasma, breaking away some of the staircase. Eric leapt to one side and thought... he saw a switch on the other side that read "Pull in case of intruder" so eric hurtled to the other side and hit it.  
  
The staircase collapsed, and the commando tumbled out a porthole at the bottom. Meanwhile, Eric had the assault rifle dangling from his foot, as he held on for dear life to the switch. He swung, gently at first, and then faster, and harder, until he hooked the weapon on a piece of shrapnel on the staircase. He let go of the switch, and swung down. Eric's boot was untied, and he slipped out, but quickly fired a vertical fist punch into the boot, grabbing hold. Eric swung up with his remaining boot, and kicked the door down, swinging inside the door, grabbing the boot and the rifle behind him  
  
Eric put on his boot, tying it in double knot, slamming the door behind him, he jumped into the cab, and then saw some amphibs hauling cavillians across the land, the first one going into the water. With his 'Nocs, he saw Laura through one of the windows, and jumped out the top, with a Jump-Jet pod, and landed on top. Inside he found Sergeant Homer in a jump jet pod, he instructed him to take over weapons systems for the titan above, and he obeyed.  
  
"Eric," Laura said, standing up among the other Waco citizens "What the hell are you doing here?"  
  
"My job," Eric said, taking a quote from a bond movie "I am your bodyguard, am I not?"  
  
"Yeah, but..." she said  
  
"Yabuts," said Eric, "They're all over Texas these days". Laura just smiled, Eric made a keen observation "Well, it's good to see you're finaly wearing some clothes, I was beginning to think you were an exhibitionist"  
  
"You..." she said blushing heavily. A businessman in the back leaned foreword and cocked an eyebrow, Eric winked at him, and he leaned back, as if he understood something.  
  
There was a bit of smiling, and Eric began to encroach on Laura for a kiss, when suddenly, his concentration was broken by a hard SLAM on the floor...  



	11. Charlie, Alpha, Lima, Lima, Alpha, Tango...

A giant hole burst up through the middle, and the cyborg commando lurched up through it, it started to advance on Laura, so Eric smacked the chamber of his M16 with his palm heel, and slammed the trigger at the cyborg's back... after that, he swung the weapon with all his might at it's head, knocking some plating loose... however, that didn't stop it... Eric ran   
  
"Get back here. Coward!" screamed a civilian, and then they all started screaming.   
  
Eric had a plan; He would give the cyborg a shocking experience, so he grabbed the fire extinguisher from the cockpit and ran foreword, he whistled loudly, and as the cyborg commando turned around, Eric let a stream of foam rip out onto it's visual sensors, and screamed at the top of his lungs, point blank on the audio sensors, making sort of a makeshift flashbang.   
  
Eric then executed a jab-cross at the exposed wiring   
  
"Double the action!" he shouted   
  
He then did a backfist-hammerfist-crescent kick combo on the exposed wiring   
  
"Triple the excitement!" he yelled   
  
Then he came down hard on it's head, knocking its legs through the floor   
  
"Get down!" he screamed   
  
Then, he punted it's head, almost knocking it off   
  
"MORE of the excitement!" he shouted   
  
He finished up by doing a cannonball on it's head, knocking it through the floor completely   
  
"Get down AGAIN!" he yelled after it   
  
Laura stared in horror, and then smiled and said "Pablo Fransisco, right?"   
  
Eric nodded and headed up to the cockpit to get an engineer to repair the holes in the floor. Seconds later he heard Colonel Wesly over his comlink   
  
"Big daddy to Baked Kahuna, Big daddy to Baked Kahuna, Where the bloody hell are my 2 new G.I.s?"   
  
"'Ightere" said Eric   
  
"Oy Vey" came Marc   
  
"We're Breaking up" said wesly "Where can I reach you? Over."   
  
"Call 234-9464" said Eric "But first, punch in 1 8 0 0 Charlie, Alpha, Lima, Lima, Alpha, Tango, Tango (Which translates to 1-800-CALL-ATT) Over"   
  
"Thanks for the tip, Smartass, over" said wesly   
  
"Roger/Roger" said Marc "Marcaroni, Over and out"   
  
"Ectcetera," said Eric "Over and out"   
  
"Big daddy uplink, Mean Gene, Over and out" said Colonel Wesly   
  
"A'ight" said an assistant pilot "Get your asses out, we got some real work to do!"   
  
"We got a name for people like you" said Eric   
  
"What?" asked the assistant pilot   
  
"Asshole" said Eric bluntly   
  
The man made his way back to the cockpit and said to the pilot "Y'hear that? That guy called me an asshole!"   
  
"That's because you are, Hickory" said the pilot   
  
"Eric," said Laura "I know it's in your job description, but thanks for coming to my aid anyway"   
  
"Anytime" said Eric "Anytime"   
  
-------3 HOURS LATER, HUSTON HOMELESS SHELTER-------   
  
"While Waco is under siege" said A beta squadron member named Private Arnold Rodgers "Me and my partner, Alva Thompson, of the Alpha squadron will watch over you"   
  
"Well," said Eric "I guess we're in for the long haul"   
  
"Yup," said Laura "What to do?"   
  
"Here," he said "Read this"   
  
Eric pulled Neil's Journal out of his pack, and opened it. It read:   
  
  
  
December 17, 1952   
  
  
Dear Journal,   
  
Word up! Christmas is just around the corner, but I think a present is in store for me ahead of time. Lieutenant Zofia has just given me the debrief and blueprints of a new anti-armor unit, affectionately dubbed "Terror Drone" And hot dog! I got the chance to use it and discovered a few things; first off, it will be left behind and stunned during a chronoshift, in addition, it also brings down the hammer on infantry, even one as heavy as the tesla trooper, but then again, it IS an anti armor unit. Physically, though, it is merely a 4 legged spider, that hauls ass down the path   
  
Neil   
  
P.S. Premier and Myself are going to have a dish tonight the French like to call; Filet Mignon, so I must go!   
  
  
"Wow," said Laura "You weren't kidding"   
  
"Nope" said Eric proudly   
  
"ALL GAURDS DISMISSED," shouted a sudden voice "THE WACO MALITIA WILL TAKE IT FROM HERE" Then, 4 guards came in and saluted, and through the door came Unretired Major Sam Simmons; Eric's dad.   
  
"INSPECTION!" he boomed. He inspected Rodgers and Thompson, and gave them the thumbs-up, and came past all the civilians' beds, and finally came to Eric, standing at the foot of Laura's bed. Sam shook Laura's hand saying "We're here to protect you"   
  
"Beat ya to it, sir" said Eric   
  
"I beggin' your pardon, son?" Asked Sam   
  
"I am this woman's legal bodyguard, sir," snapped Eric   
  
"Is that a fact" said Sam "Anything else I should know?"   
  
"Yes, sir" Eric responded "The Ex-Seal, Tanya, Is your grandmother, sir!"   
  
"Funny," said Sam "but there's no room for humor here" and chortled off before Eric had a chance to follow up.   
  
"Damn, your dad's strict" she said "And I thought I had it rough"   
  
"Yeah, well" said Eric   
  
"Closing time!" called a technical sergeant "All non-members of the waco inner circle, leave!"   
  
"Guess I'd better go then" said Eric   
  
"Wait!" said Laura "I have something for you,"   
  
"Yeah..." said Eric, turning around, but before he could say anything more, Laura wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.


	12. We'll Meet Again

They held each other in deep embrace for about 15-20 seconds, and yoould bet your life that Eric popped one right then and there. For somdiotic reason, Eric broke off the kiss, and smiled at Laura, then,  
suddenly, The guard smacked Eric on the back  
  
"Get moving, lover boy" he said, gruffly  
  
"Rrrrrrright" said Eric "Have a nice day then"  
  
The guard watched Eric's back curiously, and then went about his business.  
  
At the Omega Squadron base camp, it was time for dinner, and Eriade it back just in time to take the spot Marc had been saving for him.  
That night they had chicken Coeur dam bleu, for 2 reasons; 1, it was  
Friday, the day Wesly gave the troops something worth eating, and 2; due that had happened at Un bit piccolo dell'italia, The beta squadron haeceived loads of it, and shared it's wealth with the Omega, Alpha, and Ohquadrons (the Ohm squadron was erected to guard El Paso).  
  
As Eric sat down at the table he saw an officer with a couple rows oecorations... maybe a Lieutenant, and some other soldiers were hassling a  
Cuban man, calling him a cheap shot and a commie. The man's name was  
Corporal Desi Montego, Texas' finest sharpshooter.  
  
"Let him be..." started Eric  
  
"...Hanley" said the man "Lieutenant, 2nd Class, Jake Hanley. Surprised yoouldn't care to join in on the fun, mister..."  
  
"Simmons" finished Eric "Corporal Eric Simmons"  
  
"I know your kind" said Hanley "Sticking out for the weak and downtrodden,  
well, that's fine... Just don't get in my way"  
  
"I will if I have to" said Eric, boldly  
  
"C'mon, Eric" said Marc "Let's get out of here before he starts on us too"  
  
"You'd be wise to listen to your friend, Simmons" said Hanley  
  
"No" said Eric "If you're gonna make him a commie, make me one too"  
  
But Hanley just laughed "That doesn't change the fact he's a spy for sovieuba"  
  
"You cant prove that" snorted Eric "besides, My great-grandfather was a  
Russian general, and a damn fine man, I might add"  
  
"Aah, Bold move" said Hanley. Glaring at him "Stupid, but bold"  
  
"Well then so be it" said Eric  
  
"We'll meet again" said Hanley "And it will NOT be pleasant"  
  
And Hanley left, without another word.  
  
"You put up with that bull-crap often?" asked Eric  
  
"I don't have a choice" said Desi  
  
"Why not?" asked Eric  
  
"Because... they're bigger and better, they can do horrible things to me"  
said Desi  
  
"The hell they can!" said Eric "There's laws against that! You can geilled for that! They're doing it by means of firestorm, now, I hear"  
  
"Yeah, but" trailed Desi  
  
"But nothing," said Eric "I'm going to report this to Colonel Wesly!"  
  
"Wait!" said Desi  
  
But Eric had left  
  
That night he thought to himself; what would the brotherhood try next? Hoong were the citizens of Waco to be here? And what was dad planning now?  
But just as so, Wesly himself broke into Eric's Bunk  
  
"Simmons," he said "We need your help on a covert operation"  
  
"Sir?" asked Eric  
  
"Get your special ops gear, and I'll explain it to you on the way" saiesly  
  
Eric got his stuff on, and met Colonel Wesly out back by a helipad, with eadied orca transport  
  
"This is your chance to prove yourself; The Waco militia has been capturey a nod special forces faction; you are to rescue those captured. Thenly took officers, thank heavens, so there should only be 4"  
  
"Umm, sir" said Eric as the Orca took off "Who EXACTLY got taken?"  
  
"Corporal Matt Simpson,  
  
Sergeant Frank D. Nordberg,  
  
Sir Edmund Wayne,  
  
And Major Sam Simmons 


	13. Never Say Die

"Sir?" asked Eric "By myself?"  
  
"Well," said Colonel Wesly "For now"  
  
Then a man pushed Eric out about 5 feet from the ground, and they took off.  
Eric saw an opportunity; there was an unprotected area around a core poweenerator, and Eric would destroy it; He found a plastic explosive in hiack, and began to scale the tall, well-lit tower of the advanced powelant. He began to climb down the inside, when he heard the loading of ub-machine gun, a HK-MK2.33, to be exact, and then a man in a red jumpsuiith a posh British accent asked  
  
"Going somewhere, old chap?"  
  
"Going up" said Eric, as he unhooked the cord that held him up, it snappep, and the velocity at which it was traveling killed the man instantly;  
Eric fell into a chamber with dry ice all around, And Eric looked for a waut, 1st thing. He was beginning to wonder what this place was for, wheuddenly, the floor gave way as to let some dry ice fall into a metal shaft  
Eric pulled out his knife and tried several times to stab it into thhaft, to stop himself, but they all failed. As the freezing cold shafrew red-hot, Eric tried one last time to ram his knife into the shaft.  
  
Eric put all his weight and strength behind his thrust, and drove hinife into the Beryllium walls of the shaft, and as the momentum draggeim further, he struggled to hold onto the handle of his knife, dangling by  
1 hand now. He saw the Dry ice fall into a giant Iridium vat in the center,  
and created a giant smokescreen as it cooled the boiling power source.  
Across the vat, a door opened, and an engineer carrying a clipboard and pealked out on the catwalk. Eric quickly pulled himself above the spot wherhe knife was stuck, and follied around in his pack and found a KY-44 Long-  
Range Detonator (Otherwise known as a disc grenade) and tossed it like a  
Frisbee, it bounced once off the iridium, twice, thrice, once off thatwalk, and detonated in the control room.  
  
The whole place shook, and the engineer lost his balance and fell.  
The engineer quickly grabbed onto the catwalk, and brought his other hanp, stabbing himself with his pen, accidentally. He yelped in pain and leo of the catwalk, falling into the iridium. The shaft shook violently anhe engineer's hand floated up, covered in iridium, and when it sunk again,  
only the index finger was left. Eric spent the next 5 minutes scaling uhe shaft, and when he reached the top, he pulled out a plastic explosive.  
  
Eric gathered some saliva in the back of his throat and then spit ohe frosted wall of the shaft, and quickly stuck the explosive, face firsn the vertical puddle, and it froze, and Eric unstrapped the fixtures ohe back, and opened the shaft, whipped out his raptor, and pumped 2 roundnto the guard's torso, he climbed out of the spire, and scaled down thide, the man in the jumpsuit with his head split in 2.  
  
The shaft opened again, and more dry ice fell into the shaft, a blocatching the explosive with it, it slid further and further down the shaft;  
When it fell in the Iridium, it exploded, and reacted by undoing thundreds of half-lives, and it radiated the very air around it, causing mall mushroom cloud.  
  
Even though Eric was at least 50 yards away, the explosion flung hioreword. When he landed, he sat there for several seconds, and then heard a squelch over his C.B., and pulled it out  
  
"Mean Gene to Etcetera, Mean Gene to Etcetera, Come in Etcetera, over"  
  
"Etcetera to Mean Gene, What IS your major malfunction? Over" Said Eric, in annoyed tone  
  
"Thought you could use some help, so I'm paradropping a Black-Ops Commandeam, a Black-Ops Sniper team, and a Waco Militia armor battalion, over"  
  
"Aaight, Over," said Eric  
  
"Once they hit the ground, they're all yours" Said Colonel Wesly "And not inute before, Over"  
  
"I hear that, over and out," said Eric.  
  
Three Dropships whizzed overhead, and out of one came 5 men in blacumpsuits, out of another were 5 in Camo jumpsuits, and the last onropped and 4 wolverines. Because of the power plant hit, The S.A.M. sitetayed stationary.  
  
He surveyed the troops in front of him; and in the sniper team, he saw Desi  
Montego, but said nothing.  
  
"Code Bravo," said Eric "For you wolverines, just stay put until I calou, snipers to the ready, Commando's, at my liege, let's move!"  
  
The commandos crept quietly behind Eric, as they approached a barn, where ick tank was standing guard. One of the commandos snuck around the barn,  
and quickly jumped on the turret of the tick tank, quickly unscrewed it,  
hopped down inside, there was the whistle of a silenced Sub-machine gun,  
and 2 corpses edged out of the hatch.  
  
The 4 commando's jumped in the door and quickly executed 'Code Bravo' (Thell jumping out in defensive/offensive positions, and then searching threa. Eric made his way up a ladder to the loft; and there he saw thrisoners. Sir Wayne had a large bruise on his bald head, and appeared te unconscious, and Sam had a deep gash in his forehead, and appeared to bnconscious. Eric shook his head and said quietly to himself  
  
"He'll never learn"  
  
Eric untied the men and stood them up; Sir Wayne woke up immediately. Saook longer though, when he did wake up, he dabbed his forehead with a matf straw, and looked at Eric, smiling  
  
"Never say die, pops" said Eric  
  
"Sure," Replied Sam "But what was that shit about my great grandmother?"  
  
"Nothing," lied Eric "Nothing, really"  
  
"Wouldn't expect anything less" said Sam sarcastically  
  
At that time, the man were making their way down the ladder, when there wa deep rumbling. 2 devils tongues had surfaced, put the barn alight, aneft.  
  
Sir Wayne was frozen in horror as the wave of flame engulfed the barn in ediate of seconds;  
  
"Get your head out of your ass!" shouted Eric, But Sir Wayne just stood,  
jaw open, as beads of sweat crept down his sweeping handlebar mustache.  
Then, a large cinder fell from the roof.  
  
"Damn British people" muttered Eric to himself, as he sprang into actiond grabbed Sir Wayne, throwing him aside. The cinder thundered through thir, and slammed Eric on the head. Everyone in the barn heard a mysteriouoice, but dare not speak of it.  
  
It is my destiny.  
  
I've already seen the final act.  
  
If I am cut.  
  
You will carry it with you for the rest of your life.  
  
Never to leave your side again.  
  
You'll come for the sunshine; you'll stay for the people.  
  
DO I NOT BLEED!?  
  
Sam spun around as Sir Wayne hauled past him; he sighed, and ran back tis son; unconscious, for sure, he grabbed Eric's Collar and dragged him tn Orca transport waiting to take them all to safety. And Eric wanconscious until at least a little while later.  
  
  
We are not about terror. We are about brotherhood. Hence the name.  
  
-Seth, The Brotherhood of NOD 


	14. C’est la vie Mesdames et messieurs

Eric awoke on the couch in his family's Living room; he woke to the sounds of Lincoln Park, Curly and a couple of his friends doing their homework on the floor, his dad, in a chair by his feet, watching the Brickyard 400 on T.V, His mom, in the kitchen, making Deviled Eggs, and Laura, in a chair by his head, reading Sylvester Stallone's "Paradise Alley". Eric smiled, as he pulled out his raptor; he loaded a dummy shell in (One that only 'flash'es and 'bang's, but launches no projectile) and fired.  
  
Curly kicked his feet up in the air in surprise, and his friends covered their heads with their hands; Sam yanked on the reclining arm of the chair so hard, he tipped the chair over, Laura tossed her book high in the air and fell backwards; And from the kitchen, Eric heard a crash. Once Sam realized it was Eric, he looked around for a hole, before realizing it was a dummy. Laura smacked Eric's arm and crossed her arms, as she turned a brilliant shade of candy-apple red. Curly took off his shoes and tossed them at Eric.  
  
"You realize," said Eric "You'll never get 'em back"  
  
"We could've been chucking popcorn at a staff sergeant and we DIDN'T?" Said Curly's Friend, Andy Macaw.  
  
"Staff Sergeant?" said Eric "But I'm."  
  
"A corpral?" finished Laura "Wesly promoted ya, bud"  
  
"Wesly?" said Eric, confused "When did YOU talk with Wesly?"  
  
"He's in the kitchen" said Sam  
  
Then, Eric heard Colonel Wesly's voice from the kitchen;  
  
"Well, now I see what you did wrong, Leslie" he said to Eric's mom "You need to mix less mustard, more mayo"  
  
Eric cocked an eyebrow  
  
"The Colonel so graciously offered to help fine tune your mother's deviled egg recipe" explained Sam  
  
Eric got up and walked into the breakfast nook, positioned adjacent to the living room, and then into the kitchen, where Colonel Wesly was waving his beret above a large wooden bowl, next to Leslie.  
  
"Good to eat, but rank'r than an admiral!" he said, grinning. Eric walked up to the bar at the edge of the kitchen, and put his elbows down on the table  
  
"Didn't know you could cook, sir" said Eric  
  
"Damn straight" said Wesly "Jenna (Colonel Wesly's Wife) can't cook, so that's my job!"  
  
"That," said Leslie, pointing to Eric "Is the tyrant, that at the 4th of July picnic in '21, ate 4 dozen deviled eggs, and then asked if we had any more!"  
  
Colonel Wesly chuckled  
  
"Umm, sir, what are you doing HERE?" inquired Eric  
  
"That's a good question. Staff Sergeant. look behind you." Said Wesly  
  
Eric hadn't seen Marc and someone else at the table playing 7-card Draw. The other man wore a jumpsuit, and was clad in a belt of charges, he had a fair amount of decorations, those of a 1st lieutenant maybe, and a nameplate on each breast that read "Myles"  
  
"Sergeant Simmons," said Wesly "I'd like you to meet our newest officer, 1st lieutenant Byron Myles"  
  
Eric shook lieutenant Myles' hand. He was of Indian descent, had fluffy, jet-black hair, and had small, glimmering crystals covering his chin like a goatee; yes, he was a shiner.  
  
"Part of the forgotten?" asked Eric  
  
"ERIC!" Scolded Leslie  
  
"Sorry, mom" quipped Eric  
  
"Hey, don't worry," spoke Myles, in a beautiful, oily, bass voice "At least he don't call me a shiner!"  
  
"Lieutenant Myles," interrupted Colonel Wesly "Is part of the Ghostalker program, and is the only one of his kind in the great state of Texas!"  
  
"What'd the feds stick YOU with?" pondered Eric  
  
"Rail gun," said lieutenant Myles, smugly  
  
"Holy Shezus!" said Eric "Are you serious??"  
  
"Yup," replied Myles  
  
"We're gonna be rather crowded tonight" said Leslie, everyone now in the room  
  
"How so?" asked Laura, sweetly  
  
"Well, there's me, Sam, Curly, Eric, Andy, Bonnie" started Leslie  
  
"Stop right there" said Eric "How come?"  
  
"Curly asked" said Leslie  
  
"Me, Lieutenant Myles, Sergeant Bonner" said Colonel Wesly  
  
"How come?" quipped Curly  
  
"I can answer that," said Sam "Men of war are ALWAYS welcome in this house"  
  
"I'll remember that the next time our hospital ward gets overcrowded" joked Wesly  
  
"And Laura" Finished Eric  
  
"How come?" asked Curly  
  
"Because. she's pretty" said Eric sarcastically  
  
"Works for me" Sam responded  
  
"Oh, come on you guys!" said Leslie, crossing her arms  
  
"C'est la vie Mesdames et messieurs!" said Eric, gently kissing Laura's hand  
  
And for the first time in his life, Eric saw someone blush so hard they turned purple; Laura.  
  
  
  
Bismilah!  
  
-Freddie Mercury, Bohemian Rhapsody 


	15. Four Yellow Stripes

That night, the crew watched a movie Sam had made during the 1st tiberian war entitled "Tiberium; Menace or Martyr?" which discussed the matter of Tiberium, and it's dangers.  
  
In the morning all the soilders in the house were doing this and that with military strategy, Sam and Col. Wesly even got out their old playbook; but Eric left; he got in his car and drove, for about 18 minutes, he dealt with both the horribly constructed GDI 'protection' roadblocks, criss-crossed texas freeways, and Austin morning traffic; it was a Sunday. Blah, blah, blah, life goes on.  
  
He finally arrived at a large building, it had a unique mix of modern American and ancient oriental construction; there was a sign out front; it showed a man with no face standing next to a river; he had on a 10-gallon hat, boots with spurs, and a black belt tied around his waist; in bold, branded text below it read:  
  
Rio Grande Martial Arts  
  
Eric strolled through the parking lot; he came to a huge red oak door, and opened it.  
  
In the lobby, Eric was greeted by an empty lobby; the far off sounds of 'snap, snap, snap' and an occasional kihap (Yell).  
  
Eric stepped up a 2-stair into a locker room; there were 2 larger lockers by the door, they read:  
  
A. Simmons  
  
E. Simmons  
  
He opened his locker, in a few minutes he was in his dobok (Martial arts uniform); solid white padded cloth with black trim around the collar with the "Adidas" logo at the bottom of the top. A red Sweat band was wrapped around his head, keeping his hair contained, and a black belt that hung low; on one side, embroidered in yellow, were some oriental looking symbols, the other had 4 yellow stripes.  
  
He bowed into the dojang (More commonly known as a dojo); A man of good physique, about 6'1", 200 lbs, 71 years old, wearing a whethered black belt with 9 stripes.  
  
For the rest of the day, words like "Ba-ro", "Yes Sir", and "Pyongwon" Rang throughout the building.  
  
When Eric left, he took 1 thing with him that he did not have before;  
  
A butterfly knife; it had a treated stainless steel blade with ornately carved jade handlebars, there was a golden latch that held the handlebars in place; the blade was finely serrated, and on the flat edge of the blade was an inscription; TO ERIC SIMMONS, BEST WISHES, GRANDMASTER SOO JUN SUNG.  
  
Eric left; it was late, about 9:00, when Eric drove home. He arrived at 9:47 to find that the only people left in the house were Sam and Leslie, asleep on the couch, and Laura, waiting for Eric to come.  
  
"Where have you been all friggin' day?" inquired Laura  
  
"Kicking some ass, my love" Said Eric "Let's blow this Popsicle stand"  
  
Eric took her under his arm, flung his jacket over his shoulder, and walked off into the sunset; Bill Nero style.  
  
  
  
When you fix an eye upon your destination, you leave 1 less eye to find the way  
  
-Korean Proverb 


	16. Let's Do This

The next morning he woke up in a down bed with a very unfamiliar symbolic pattern; it had a thick down comforter, and smelled highly of feminine pheromones. He recognized the room only by a few postcards, posters, bumper stickers and stuff from the obverse side of the door; he was in Laura's room.  
  
There was a strong smell coming from somewhere… edible, no doubt, it burned the hairs in Eric's nose, but he found it quite tantalizing. He rubbed his face to see if he needed a shave; but found some dry, blood-soaked industrial strength gauze. He ventured out into the kitchen.  
  
Laura was huddled over the stove cooking something in… who'd a guessed it… her bathrobe.  
  
"Why not just…" started Eric, but his throat was dry, his stomach; empty, and his heart told him not to insult her, because she is such a divine creature, his brain told him "Grasshopper, do not bite the hand that feeds you" "Aww, screw it."  
  
Laura banked her head around, knowing what he was going to say, and proud of him for not saying it.  
  
"Up for some home style cooking?" said Laura, in a outrageously phony southern accent  
  
"Sure," said Eric, hazily, "to drink?"  
  
"What would you like?" she asked politely  
  
"Texas tea'd do me rightly fine" he said in an equally snake oil southern accent  
  
"Hmm," said Laura, glancing in the fridge "All out, how do you make it?"  
  
Eric burst into hysterics "I jest, ma'am, Texas tea is Crude Oil!"  
  
"Right, you jest," said Laura  
  
"What's with the bandages?" asked Eric  
  
"I seem to remember someone in the living room doing aerials with a butterfly knife who couldn't quite seem to catch it in his teeth" Laura Said coyly as she turned on the TV.  
  
"Today is a day of arms" said the announcer "people taking them up as GDI leaders across the united states head to the IMS Philadelphia for a meeting of a breakthrough on the mysterious 'Godsend' project. Right here in Texas, GDI officers are keeping the peace as Colonel Gene Wesly takes his shuttle into space. People are running wild through the streets, but our boys in gold are keeping the peace; we go live with correspondent Nick Johnstone in Waco, where a press conference was scheduled with leaders of Beta Squadron, GDI, and the Waco Militia.  
  
Reporter: Cpt. Masterson, is it true that the brotherhood is going to launch an attack on the Philadelphia once the leaders are up?  
  
Masterson: I don't know where you PEOPLE get your Intel, but I can assure you that the brotherhood hasn't the technology to assault a space station, and even if they were, there would be no way to know about it.  
  
Reporter: Cpt. Masterson, Soldiers have been seen picking fights with innocent civilians, how is this justifiable?  
  
Masterson: As I said before, where you people scoop the 4-1-1, I haven't the faintest, but I keep all my men under lock and key 24-7.  
  
Reporter: Cpt. Masterson, are you currently married?  
  
Masterson: I wasn't aware that we had become uninterested in the relevance of the topic; besides, I don't believe my marital status is any of your business.  
  
Reporter: Cpt. Masterson, who will win the World Series?  
  
Masterson: You can't honestly tell me you're getting PAID to schedule a press conference on the day of a huge national event, ask me about my marital status and baseball? If there are any further questions of this nature, I shall feel the need to deck reporters.  
  
Reporter: Cpt. Masterson, why do fools fall in love?  
  
Masterson: Lieutenant Kapp! Clear out these reporters! Sergeant Homer, go give this holodisk to Colonel Wesly before he leaves, Corporal Rodgers, assist lieutenant Kapp in giving these men the 1-2, and I will see to it that there is never another military press conference in Texas for the next zillion years!!!  
  
"Well," said the reporter "I'm Guy Persons, and Balding Eagle is away in the Caimans eating live explosives! Until next time, this is the 11;47 o' clock news!"  
  
Eric turned off the T.V.; but No further silence was heard…  
  
"Captain Masterson, I got your holodisk; I'll be sure to watch it aboard the Philly." Said Colonel Wesly "Did you give Jenna the respective food container labels"  
  
"Yes sir," replied Captain Masterson over the communicator "But I doubt she'll use it…" the transmission began to quaver, and shake  
  
"What in the devil is going on over there?" asked Colonel Wesly  
  
"THE BROTHERHOOD!" shouted Masterson "THEY'RE LAYING SIEGE TO WACO, YOU'VE GOT TO GET OUT! STAY DOWN SOILDER, GET THOSE CAVILLIANS TO A SHELTER, DAMNIT!" The transmission ended  
  
Wesly had his jacket all bunched up around the collar from sitting up and listing, he stood erect, as 2 soldiers escorted him to the launch platform; Colonel Wesly rubbed his chin  
  
"Let's do this" he said firmly, bailing into the shuttle  
  
  
  
"A man's life is a precious commodity, just because we have chiseled abs and stunning features does not mean that WE TOO cannot die in freak gasoline fight accidents!"  
  
-Zoolander 


	17. Paved With Blood

No sooner had Eric risen from the table from his meal than an explosion rocked the area. The brotherhood was at it again; just a damn mock fight; the brotherhood had receded soon enough.  
  
The day passed with out much doing to it, soldiers took the day off, short 'n sweet. Improves morale, I guess. Well anyways…  
  
Eric was lying on the couch that night, teaching Laura the art of D&D, a game from the 70's, still popular 60 years later. The Black Bloodbath was ready to assist the bohemian avenger in bringing down the dragon of might, when the brotherhood launched a rocket at a roadblock, Eric grabbed his M4 carbine and his desert eagle, and sprang out the door, Laura wisely stayed down.  
  
The shuttle moved slowly into port #9 of the Philadelphia, a technician shouted "Morann, go inform General Solomon that the 1st commander has arrived" he quickly glanced the lone-star logo on the shuttle and was off  
  
"General Solomon, Sir," he shouted, "The 1st commander has arrived"  
  
A weathered old man, a portly Negro with 2-tone hair and unfathomable decorations on the breast of his navy blue jacket, since it's founding, 35 years ago, General Solomon has been the man in charge.  
  
"Who is it, man?" he asked  
  
"Colonel Gene Wesly, of Texas" he responded  
  
"Oh, See him in, man" said Solomon sternly  
  
"Yes sir"  
  
Colonel Wesly walked in the door  
  
"General Solomon, sir"  
  
"Gene; how goes it, man?" he asked, in his deep, oily voice  
  
"Quite well sir," rejoined Colonel Wesly "How are things in space"  
  
"Things are well on the 'final frontier'" he interjected  
  
"The final frontier" laughed Colonel Wesly "So, so true"  
  
"It's good to see you again Gene" said Solomon  
  
"As you," replied Wesly "What kind of breakthrough are we looking at here?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, that is to say," said Wesly "Do we have operational satellites, good look at the layout, or figured out a good sized research block"  
  
"Oh," said Solomon "We've got 3 satellites"  
  
"I'd like to get to my quarters," said Wesly, after a long, awkward silence  
  
"Sergeant Morann" summoned Solomon "See this man to his room"  
  
"Yes sir"  
  
When Colonel Wesly arrived in his room he went immediately to the communicator, it was next to the bathroom door, across from the bed, and adjacent to a shatterproof, double seal window with a view of space. He dialed up a frequency.  
  
A woman with strawberry-banana hair in her mid-late 30's appeared on the screen, she pulled on her coat, and turned  
  
"Oh, hello Gene" she said smiling, "We were just leaving"  
  
"Hey, Jenna," said Wesly, leaning back in his chair "Figure out the respective food containers?"  
  
"Uhh," she started "About that, we decided to eat out tonight"  
  
"Is that so?" laughed Wesly "Well, then, I guess…"  
  
But there was an interruption:  
  
"This is an all points bulletin;" came a voice "The city of Waco is being attacked, requesting backup at Pullman High, West side residential, and office block 3"  
  
Captain Masterson sat at a table in a fine French restaurant, most of the food on the plates of himself and a young woman sitting opposite him gone.  
  
"Sucked," he said "They asked me questions like small children; so I treated them like small children… and sent them to their rooms!!"  
  
They both burst into hysterics, when they calmed down, Masterson reached across the table and gently clutched her hands  
  
"I know we haven't known each other all that long, but these last 10 months have been the happiest of my life," Masterson said softly "And I want you to know that I love you with all my heart…"  
  
There was a pause  
  
"Mary?" he said, one hand heading back to his coat pocket  
  
"Yes, Roy?" she responded, affectionately  
  
"Will y…" but he was cut off by gunfire.  
  
Masterson stood up, looked out the window, and saw troops rush up the hill; a couple smashed the giant front window, and rushed in to garrison.  
  
"Fu… th… gaa… DAMNIT!" shouted Masterson in genuine frustration  
  
He rolled proficiently over to the entrance, where they had appropriated his chain gun. He grabbed it, manually rolled the chain, walked over, he saw the soldiers kneeling behind an overturned table, shooting at Masterson's troops. Without much more to it, he sprayed the side with 7.67mm's, killing the 2 soldiers, and at least 4 more grunts and an officer in the streets.  
  
Eric Fired a stream of shots, gunning down 2 soldiers in front of him, he saw another man thrown down by a speeding buggy, his head. Chunky Kibbles. A couple of chem. Warriors sprayed down a mass of GDI troops in front of Eric; he ran for the edge.  
  
There he saw a dead man hanging out of the air; he expertly climbed up the man; he was walking on air, until he fell; when he did; he saw the interior of a stealth tank; he decided to bomb it instead of commandeering it; he planted 2 explosive charges, and climbed out, there was an explosion, the flames torching several GDI soldiers.  
  
Masterson was gunning down many a soldier in the streets, which were now paved with blood, but it looked as though they were doomed. Masterson walked over to a radio and bent down to make a transmission.  
  
1 "Win any way you can… Nice Guys Finish Last"  
  
2 -Leo Draucher 


	18. City of Flames

"This is Mastermind to air control, how many Orca transports do you have down there?" queried Masterson  
  
"Air control to Mastermind" they replied "We've got 3"  
  
Masterson kicked the table in frustration. "Send M' down" he mumbled "Mastermind, Over and out" This, my friends, was NOT shaping up to be Captain Roy Masterson's day at all.  
  
Eric was mounted in the crawl position behind a giant mound of dead bodies, dirt, dislodged tarmac, destroyed cars, and the like, forming a great trench, from which they fired on the advancing brotherhood troops. He saw the 3 transports arrive from the southeast, the brotherhood made note to gun the central one down in a spectacular display of fireworks, and dealt some heavy damage to a second.  
  
The transport landed, and some men in full uniform with M4 Carbines ushered the men into the portal in the side of the transport, they could accommodate about 100 people each; there were about 400,000 civilians in Waco. A tidal wave of people shrank slowly, then the guards began to push people back, one of the guards was grabbed by the arm, then by his hair, then his foot, he was dragged under.  
  
They took off again, but aside from the far off sounds of battle, none could be heard. Then, a woman cradling a 3-year-old boy, with tears disproportionately streaming down his soiled face screamed:  
  
"Wait, you cant just leave us here!!!!!!!"  
  
Then they all opened fire with shouting, whistling, and high pitched screaming, just as a SAM site opened fire on one of the Orcas, bringing it down, killing the little over 100 people inside. The third one escaped the onslaught, but was forced to make an emergency water landing in the Gulf of Mexico, and eventually sank.  
  
Eric jumped up and fired his .50 Desert eagle, 2 nod troops, and a black- hand sniper injured by the fire, he also struck a petrol barrel in an overturned truck that read "Oilcow trucking" there was a great explosion, and several GDI soldiers and some officers were killed; they were romping through the city like an angry bull at a Texas rodeo.  
  
Eric shook his head, grimacing like he had a bad taste in his mouth; he knew what he had to do; he ran for the site, struggling to get through the masses of people; he saw a 16 year old boy drive off in his car,  
  
Angered, Eric screamed after it "Get back here with my t-bird, you dirty sonuvabitch!"  
  
Laura hung over her porch rail; she had a backpack full of neccessable necessities; Eric lifted her by the arms over the rail, they began to flee the city of flames; as it would become to be known.  
  
They jogged along the panicked streets, bullets licking the blacktop as they ran; They came to a toll bridge out of the city, the arm was down, the attendant's corpse lay in the seat, he had been burned alive.  
  
Eric struggled to hoist the great arm, Laura ducked and ran under, and Eric vaulted over the top. They ran as fast as could out of the city; when they came to the desert outside Waco, they could see aircraft whizzing about like gnats on a hot summer's day, the city smoked, skyscrapers collapsed in such a show that none had seen for 29 years.  
  
It was 180 miles to Huston; the expedition would take 2-3 weeks to complete; but from there, the world was theirs  
  
To command…  
  
…And to conquer.  
  
"Kill one man, they call you a murderer. Kill a million men, and they call you a conqueror"  
  
-John Lithgow, Cliffhanger 


	19. The Feeling's Mutual

98 miles from home. They were huddled around a pile of burning dried cactus, Eric was telling Laura a story of his martial arts career.  
  
"*Sigh* there were about 120 people, 63 of them belonging to the Korean team, Grandfather was the coach of the American team; only 7 guys. That was the best competition I ever went to"  
  
"So you went to the 2028 summer games in Tripoli?" said Laura, her arms wrapped around her knees, rocking back on her tailbone  
  
"Ah, ah, ah," said Eric quickly "Not just went; came home with a gold medal for gyroogi"  
  
"Whoozajiggawha?" asked Laura  
  
"Sparring," said Eric, cracking up "anyways, I had to spar a French guy; name was Master Jacques Louvrè, 4th Dan black belt, like myself, I beat him 24-19, and got a massive head injury in the 3rd round"  
  
"What's that?" she inquired, studying his head  
  
"Big ol' gash in my face," said Eric, tracing I gigantic, but barely visible scar across his face  
  
"Ouch," she said "That's gotta suck"  
  
They were on the last leg of their journey through the harsh Texas desert, a mere 42 miles from Huston, on their way through a small town called LaGrange, they had purchased additional supplies, and continued on. It rained that night, so there was no fire; Eric and Laura were huddled together under a giant rock formation, there was a great rainstorm from dark gray stratus and cumulus clouds blanketing the late night Texas sky.  
  
Laura had her head lay in Eric's lap, he was idly stroking her hair, staring ad the drips of precipitation leaking down from the top of the rocky crag.  
  
"Tell me more about Rio Grande," requested Laura  
  
"Now," interrupted Eric "Wait just a cotton-pickin' minute! This whole trip we've talked about me, my life, my experiences, my stuff; enough about me, I wanna hear about you for a change!"  
  
Laura lifted her head "Me?" she asked, "What do you want to hear about me for? I'd probably just bore you to death, anyways"  
  
"Yeah," laughed Eric "Like I'm not gonna die of boredom way the hell out here, anyhow? Sounds to me like you're hiding something."  
  
"Fine," she said brusquely, "Lemme tell you a thing or two about myself. As I told you before, I was raised in Lisbon from a very young age; my father was the head of a big law firm, Wilson, Thompson, Knackson, and sons. My mother was a professional model, obsessed with the proposition of the "perfect tan", so she was almost a scientist if you will. We had a big seaside villa on the outskirts of Lisbon, by a not often traveled region by the strait of Gibraltar…"  
  
She paused…  
  
"Go on," said Eric "I was rather beginning to enjoy the story of the beloverly lady"  
  
"Can I tell you a secret?" she asked him  
  
"Sure," mocked Eric "But make sure Bobbi Jo isn't listening, she's the biggest blabbermouth in school!"  
  
"Something I've never told anyone" she continued, obliviously  
  
"Uh," started Eric, beginning to see the somberness of what she was about to tell him "Yeah, sure, Mum's the word."  
  
"When I was little, my mother had a sun room on the roof of our villa; she used to sunbathe there… in the nude…"  
  
She proceeded to tell the painful story of her childhood; her upbringing had been good; with the exception of this; her parents had never bothered to teach her the dangers of nudity in the modern world, what it could cause people to do quite rashly. Once she was finished, she buried her head in Eric's shoulder, and began to sob uncontrollably. Eric took his index finger and gently lifted her head, then, looking into her eyes, he spoke.  
  
"Laura," he started "When I was 12 years old, my dad caught my looking at his stash of playboy magazines; but rather than tell mom and ground me and make an example of me, he just sat me down on his bed and gave me this speech. He told me 'Eric, there comes a time in every young person's life when they go through something called puberty; but it's not something to worry about, really,' he tells me 'your body is changing in ways nobody can explain, and, of course, you'll want to explore this; that's okay; just as long as you're not hurting anyone else'"  
  
There was a pause  
  
"Over the years," he said "A lot of adults I've known have tried to play the wise man, but none have been better suited for that job than my dad; lord, he is a smart guy!"  
  
Laura wiped the tears from her eyes "Eric," she said, hoarsely "what would I do without you?"  
  
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, shortly afterwards, he lifted his head  
  
"The feeling's mutual"  
  
He kissed her again, and again, and then some more, entangled in each other the fell to the ground.  
  
Author's note: In answer to the question you sick perverts are probably asking yourselves; no they did not have sex! Sheezus! Can't you people appreciate a good romantic moment when you see one?  
  
"I'll bet if you would have frisked me, you would have found it… because I was keeping it in my butt!"  
  
-Darrel Hammond (as Sean Connery) Saturday Night Live 


	20. Where Everybody Knows Your Name

The long perilous journey ended on the Huston city limits, they hadn't stopped to rest that day; it was 0:30, or half past midnight, as they say.  
  
Cars zoomed past as the scaled the sidewalk, Eric stretched and yawned; he turned around and told a joke  
  
"Me so so-wee!" he shouted, sticking his teeth out  
  
Laura didn't catch the joke "For what?"  
  
Eric, on the other hand, thought she did "You know,"  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Laura said, quite offended  
  
"Well you remember on that…" 'Old loony toons cartoon with the Japanese midget guy' Eric was about to say, but Laura flunked telepathy in high school.  
  
"YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" she shouted "Eric Theodore Clancy Simmons, you are un-flucking-be-leivable! What happened to 'mum's the word?"  
  
Eric finally understood what the devil she was talking about "No, no, no," he said quickly "You see…" but he never finished  
  
Beginning to turn red in the face, either from embarrassment or rage, slapped Eric roundly in the face; Eric didn't care that was from a misunderstanding, that was way over the line. She recoiled to do it again, but Eric saw; halfway through her swing, Eric expertly reached out and grabbed her hand  
  
"Let… go of me!" she shouted  
  
Eric didn't want to make a scene, so he turned around and stormed off.  
  
"I'm going to a place…" he started  
  
"…Where everybody knows your name?" she finished  
  
"Correct"  
  
"That's right," Laura shouted after him "Run away, coward!"  
  
  
  
It was 1:30 when Eric arrived at Rio Grande martial arts; the building was empty, dark, and locked. Eric went up to the door, pressed his thumb against the security pad; all the lights went on, the doors came unlocked, and a robotic voice said "Level 5 security clearance granted". Eric didn't bother to change more than out of his combat boots and woolen socks; he went inside the main room, and began to wail on the bags; butterfly roundhouses, slashing roundhouse spinning side kicks, spinning reverse crescent jump turning crescent drills, whatever he could think of.  
  
It was 3:00 am when a group of small, unidentified aircraft; Nod airships, harpies if you must know, called the slavers, breeched a small, undefended hole in the outer perimeter air defense. They took 8 minutes to reach Crockett Blvd. Where they found Rio Grande martial arts, next to some storage warehouse outfits, across the street from some houses; they landed in the parking lot, several NOD special forces and a handful of black-hand snipers disembarked.  
  
Eric didn't see the troops come in from the unlocked door, and began to pour into the main room of the large dojang; They began to fire in his general direction, he turned around, and the black-hand snipers fired several shots, shattering the main window; Eric did a back flip to grab kick, wrapping his legs around one neck, reverted back, and slammed his head into the floor, he grabbed a giant bamboo quarterstaff, sitting in the corner, and did some of what they call the world's greatest martial art: Shao-Lin Kung-Fu. He did a jump cross stance, stabbing one of them, knocking some skin off, some blood out, and another combatant to the ground; he did some capiolera, too, a handstand to double spin kick, beating a couple of guys down; guns lay strewn across the floor, and there were 2 soldiers left opposing him. Out in the parking lot, a Black Hand sniper fired a shot at Eric's trunk (torso), it punctured some big veins, the world around him turned to bug races, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.  
  
"Well," said a NOD officer "Don't just stand there, bring him out!"  
  
"For Kane!" shouted one of the soldiers, and they drug Eric out, and loaded him in the back of the chopper, while the injured troops quickly jumped in other choppers.  
  
Across the street was the Mason residence; Jack Mason, a 3rd Dan black belt, and his son, Ritchie, a 2nd Dan black belt were dressed, sharpening their hunting knives, and it appeared to them that Rio Grande was under attack, and Master Simmons was unconscious; the ran across the street as quietly as possible, Jack threw his hunting knife in the back of 1 solider, on the spur of the moment, Ritchie attacked the same target; he fell over dead, and a black hand officer turned around, with a farensi M12 automatic shotgun quickly executed them both. They fell back, and hit the ground, lying together in a growing pool of blood; then the slavers took off, undetected, for a nearby Black Hand POW Camp.  
  
"I know I make a lot of jokes about Vera, but the truth is, if that woman left me, I don't know what I'd do… first"  
  
-George Wendt, Cheers 


	21. Epilogue

At 4:30 AM, a man got up to go to work early; he was in the living room, brushing his teeth, when he saw something glitter in the parking lot cattycorner from his home; he got dressed and went to investigate; he found Rio Grande martial arts in shambles, and a man in his mid 40's and a teenage boy shot dead. By 5:00, the Huston police, and some special forensic scientists had the area blockaded.  
  
At 6:00, Omega squadron forces overthrew police jurisdiction; at 6:17, Grandmaster Albert Simmons arrived, wearing a windbreaker suit, his name in the corner, and Rio Grande's logo on the back, and his belt tied around his waist.  
  
"What in god's name happened here?!" he shouted "What have you people done to my Dojang?"  
  
Gene Wesly, returned from space, and promoted to Brigadier General for his work on the new 'Godsend' project, oversaw the operation himself.  
  
"Come with me," said General Wesly. They walked over to the dead bodies. "They've been identified as Jack and Ritchie Mason; know them?"  
  
"Yes," said Albert "They helped me run this dojang"  
  
General Wesly held up a picture of Eric "This man was also found to be missing, identified as Eric Simmons, know him?"  
  
"Yes," said Albert "Helped me run the dojang as well, my grandson as a matter of fact."  
  
General Wesly motioned for some scientists to come his way  
  
"Damn," said Albert "My 2nd master has been abducted, my 3rd and 4th masters shot dead, and me off to china for the next 6 months; I've got to catch my flight in a half hour or so, who the hell is going to run this place?"  
  
"Well," continued Wesly "We had planned on convening a meeting of all the local patrons, and electing a temporary leader."  
  
  
  
"Hello, I'm Guy Persons…"  
  
"…And I'm Balding Eagle"  
  
"And you're watching the 11:47 o'clock news!"  
  
Guy started "Tonight's top story: The brotherhood is taking Texas by storm! In the past month, they've taken Waco, and are skirmishing with beta squadron forces; Later, El Paso was invaded, as well, Rho squadron forces almost completely obliterated; base commander Major Theo Rodman was executed, his death was shown on live T.V., more on that later. Over 40 prisoners were taken by the brotherhood from Rho, Beta, and even unaffected Omega squadrons… Balding!"  
  
"Right, Guy" Balding continued "In other news, the civilians of Waco and El Paso being exterminated by the hundreds; more on that later, plus weather and sports scores, and stupid human tricks! Right here on the…"  
  
"11:47 O'clock news!"  
  
"And now a word from our sponsors!"  
  
  
  
"AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!" screamed an officer covered in blood "REINFORCEMENTS!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
We need help…  
  
…Your help…  
  
Uncle Sam wants YOU to join The Global Defense Initiative!  
  
This share of the story ends here, but you've not heard the last of Eric Simmons! So don't be a dope, and get ready for a sequel: Heart of Gold, the compelling follow up to; GDI, NOD, ETC.  
  
Author's note: Cool, I actually finished a story! That means if there's hope for Lazarus de Medci IV, there's hope for you, too! So keep smiling!  
  
"I die: but my honour is great, and perhaps in another life, I will succeed"  
  
-Japanese Proverb 


End file.
